how many hours do i run lights on autos?

My question is how long do i run lights do i do 18/24 for veg if autos even have veg stage or staight 12/12 hr from seed till harvest??

I ran mine out doors and got 13-14 hrs of sun a day and they were good.

18/6 from start to finish.

i run 19/5 start to finish.. but with heat issues over the winter i will run 20/2.. lots of people run 24/0.. i guess it's one of the good things about autos you can use what ever light schedule works for you.. but i'm sure your question is what is the optimal light schedule for autos and you will get lots of debate with as many opinions as there are light cycles being used.. so the truth is that no one really knows.. you have people that say they are autos and need no dark period what so ever.. and those who say that all plants need some sort of dark period to do what they do. personally i would agree with no light if i was growing a 100% ruderalis but since it's not i personally think they need some dark time.. but that is my personal opinion.. there is a kid on here that only goes 24/0 and only grows autos and he kills it..but since they are autos they should get as much light as possible. so the 12/12 thing would only be if you were throwing autos in your flower room to fill space or something.. or lived in a country where you didn't have electricity available but half the day.. other then that i can't think of a single reason someone would give an auto less then 18/6.. or maybe if you lived off the grid and were powering your lights with a 10speed hooked up to a generator and had to peddle your ass off

I veg with CFLs 24\0. I move them for flowering 5wk+ under HPS 20\4.

20/4 or 24/0. I prefer 24/0 any less than these 2 I feel you lose max production.

4 68w 2700k cfl's for 12 hr's during the day
cool tube 400w 2000 k hps for 12 hours when its cooler

20/4 start to finish

I run 20/4 but I may bump it up in the winter. (turns off in the heat of the day for now)

I have seen 2-3 oz dry every time pulled of a grower i knows autoflowers with 24/0 the first 6 weeks depending on strain and how the plants doing then 17/7 the last month but as stated there is no rules or proof so trial a error is the best way to find out,that said I think I will do 20/4 then later go 18/6.
Good luck mate.

what if you are trying to maximize the number of plants at a specific grow site, using the least amount of power possible. Could autos still grow with only like 6 hrs light per day? then you could have 4 different 1000 watt tents, each using only 6hrs/day... using only 1000watts/day total power with 4 times the number of plants. would this yield more than 1/4 the number of plants running 24 hrs light per day?

BluntM8 said:

what if you are trying to maximize the number of plants at a specific grow site, using the least amount of power possible. Could autos still grow with only like 6 hrs light per day? then you could have 4 different 1000 watt tents, each using only 6hrs/day... using only 1000watts/day total power with 4 times the number of plants. would this yield more than 1/4 the number of plants running 24 hrs light per day?

Click to expand...

you
probably be better off with 12 plants under 1000w 24/0 then
with 48 1/4 size plants
but apples and oranges
honestly never tried it but from seeing my results from 12/12 i wouldnt advise wasting your money on 4 1000w setups to grow some tiny plants
have you seen taviddudes grows ?
https://www.rollitup.org/auto-flowering-strains/663212-dutch-passions-auto-extreme-2400-a.html
check out this guy he really has them dialed in pulls elbows like its nothing

only way to know go to attitudeseeds and type the strand in they usually tell you , depeding on the auto could be 12 12 or 18 . both are correct. but one will be better then the other .